Choice-Based Writing
 
"The confusions that occupy us arise when language is like an engine idling, not when it is doing work." -- Wittgenstein
Choice-based writers compose messages appropriate for specific situations and particular readers. Rather than following prescribed patterns, choice-based writers design messages, choosing the language, grammar, syntax, organization, content and format which best suits each communication situation.

Choice-based writers are primarily concerned that their messages are read and remembered. Moreover, they intend that their written messages generate change. Choice-based writers write for results.

 

Writing for results is not easy. Choice-based writers must carefully identify their objectives and thoroughly analyze their readers.
IDENTIFYING YOUR OBJECTIVE

1.What do I want from the reader?

Do I want them to know something they don't know?

Do I want them to change their attitude or opinion?

Do I want them to do something?
EVALUATING YOUR READERS

1. Who reads the message?

Primary reader

Secondary reader

2. Who acts upon the message?

Key reader

3. What is your relationship to the key reader?

4. What do the readers know about the message?

5. How much do the readers care about the message?

6. What are the readers' attitudes toward the message?

7. How will your message be used?

Sources to consult for more information on the Choice-Based approach include the following:

Paradis, James; David Dobrin, and Richard Miller. "Writing at Exxon ITD: Notes on the Writing Environment of an R&D Organization." In Writing in a Nonacademic Setting, Lee Odell and Dixie Goswami (eds.), New York: Guilford Press, 1985, pp. 281-307.

Rogers, Priscilla S. "Choice-Based Writing in Managerial Contexts: The Case of the Deal Contact Report," The Journal of Business Communication, 26:3, Summer 1989, pp. 197-216.